Fire-extinguishing system



April 6 ,1926.

w. KIDD ET AL F IRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM FiledJune 28, 1921 2 snees-sheet 1.

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April 6 1926.

w. KIDDE ET AL FIRE EXTINCTUSHNG SYSTEM Patented Apr. 6, 1926.V

UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.l

WALTER KIDE, OF- MONTCLAIR, `AND BARZILLAI G. WORTH, OF WEST ORANGE, NEW JEBSEY, ASSIGNOB'S T WALTER KIDDE 8a COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW masaz,

FIRE-EXTNGUISHING SYSTEM.

Application filed .Tune 28, 2 1921. Serial No. 480,966.

Toall w/wm z't may Gomera Be it known thatwe, WALTER KIDDE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Montclair, in the county of Essex and State 5 of New Jersey (post-ofli'ce address, No. 56

Gates Avenue, Montclair, N. J and BAR- zILLAI G. VVORTH, a citizen of the United States, residin'g at VVest Orange, in the 'county' of Essex and State of vNew Jersey (post-office address, No.`422 Gregory Avenue, VVest Orange, N. J.), have jointly invented certain new and useful Improve'- ment's lin Fire-Extinguishing Systems.

0111r invention relates to various new and 16 useful improvements in apparatus for detecting and 'extinguishing' fires in ships, mines, buildings and other structures ofl the V general type disclosed in United States Patent'No. 1,343,911, of June 22, 1920.' With- 210 this type of apparatus, known commercially as the Rich systemj? smoke' is drawn througha pipe or series of pipes leading from one or more compartments or other localities to an'observation or indicator cab-inet at which the presence 'of smoke is detected, whereupon a fire-smothering or extinguishing medium is caused to flow through the pipe or pipes to extinguish the fire. The object generally of the present improvements is to increase the reliability and efii- `ciency of the system. In our said patent ,we 'show among other improvements, a threeway cock for closing the discharge of air to the smoke indicating cabinet 'and' simultaneouslyopening a connection whereby the fire extinguishing medium such as steam is admitted to a particular pipe, thereby insuring the closure of the obsei'vation pipe before the iadmission of steam or other ex tinguisher under pressureto that part of the pipe which leads to the compartment in which a fire occurs.

Thel present invention relates .to a'still further improvement in the means for con-l trolling the 'various pipe connections and to other features, whereby the efectiveness of the system is augmented, all as we will here- 4inafter more fully describe and claim. I'n order that the present improvements may be better understood, attention is directed to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic view partly in section, a single pipe being shown leading from a compartment to the observation cabinet, although it will be understood that in practice as many of these pipes may be employed as may be desired.

Fig. 2, an enlarged sectional view showing one valve unit comprising twotcoordinated valves and illustrating the construction of the valves used when the connecting-pipe therefor. is ,located nearest the door of the control or valve cabinet; and

Fig. 3, a sectional view showing a modified construction of the suction valve for an observation pipe located a considerable distance within the control cabinet.

In all of the above views corresponding parts are represented by the same numerals.

It has been found in practice to be im` portant that means should be provided to insure the proper functioning of the fire extinguishing means after the fire has been detected. This involve's, first, the closing of the pipe leading to the smoke detecting stationv or indicator cabinet to prevent the forcing of steam or other fie smothering medium into the detecting apparatus; second, the opening of a connection from the steam header or other supply of extinguishing medium to the part of the pipe leading from the control chamber lto the coxnpartment where the fire exists, and third, tne re` turn of thesev various connections to their normal condition for fire detection after the fire has been extinguishedI In the arrangement disclosed in our said patent these several functions are performed as stated by means of, a'three-way cock which auto-` matically and simultaneously closes one connection and opens the other, and vice versa. By means of t-he present invention we secure the advantages of a three-way cock in insuring proper c'oordination of the opening and closing functions, together with certain other advantages of great practical importance, and at the same time secure great reliability and flexibility in operation and insurance against possibility of error in handling the apparatus. are enabled to make use of strong and substantial and accurately packed valves which can be readily and easily opened and closed without leakage of steam or other extinf guishing fluid even When the sameis under g high pressure. When a simple three-way cock is employed there is likelihood of the In particular we ,extinguishing medium, if under considerable pressure, leaking into the detector cabinet and also into the hold or other compartment in which goods may be stored, with a danger of damage thereto due to condensation. If a three-way cock is made tight enough to efectively prevent leakage of the extinguishing medium under pressure, it is likely to set and freeze and be operated with difficulty. With our present improvements we make use of standard valves ordinarily used for the control of steam or other fluid under considerable pressure and at the same time we so co ordinate the same as to necessitate the necessary se- ,quence of operation required in the effective use of the apparatus. By this we mean that the steam or other pressure valves in the pipes leading from the control or valve cabinet to the compartments or chambers of a vessel or other structure are always normally closed, while the valves for cutting off, in the extinguishing operation, the part of the pipe leading to the observation cabinet are normally opened. Each set of two valves is so coordinated that the steam or pressure valve may not be opened until its companion valve'has been first closed, while the latter valve cannot be opened to. restore the apparatus to .its normal' condition until the pressure valve has been first closed. And preferably the app'aratus involves the employment of a swinging do'or for the' control cabinet so r arranged that it cannot be closed until Vall the valves are in their normal position.

Referring now to Fig. 1, we show an intake or smoke accumulator 1, located in the room or compartm'ent in which it is proposed to indicate and extinguish fires, and arranged .preferably close to the ceiling or deck above and from'which leads a pipe 2 to a control 4cabinet 3. From the upper end of the pipe 2 leads an indicator pipe 4 having an orifice `5 located within a detector cabinet 6. VVe show only one unit comprising the accumulator 1, pipes 2 and 4,. land orifice but it will be understood of course that there`will be as many, of these vunits employed as there are chambers or compartments in which fires are to' be located and extinguished. Each pipe 2 leads into and each corresponding pipe 4 leads out of a valve casing 7, the construction of which is more clearly illustrated in Figs. 2

`and 3. VVithin each casing is a pressure valve 8 seating snugly and normally against a valve seat 9 to cut off pressure from the steam header 10 or' other source of extinguishing 'mediumpunder pressure. In Fig. 1 we illustrate a main valve 11 admitting steam to the header 10, and a smaller valve 12 admit-ting carbon-dioxide or other fire extinguishing gas under pressure to said header. It will be understood` of c`ourse that any suitable extinguishing medium can be made use of. Each pressure valve 8 is operated by an ordinary valve wheel 13 packed and actuated in the lusual Way. Each of the casings 7 is sub-divided by a partition 14 having a valve opening therein which is adapted to be closed by a valve 15 formed with a number of wings 16 which guide and center the valve to its seat. This smoke valve 15'y is normally open, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, but is adapted to be closed by a spring 17 surrounding the valve stem as illustrated. Pivoted to each valve stem is a lever 18 which normally occupies a position in front of the corresponding valve wheel 13 so as to prevent the latter from Operating, or'at least giving an indication not to operate the same until the lever 18 is lnoved up out of the way. Each lever 18 is provided with a cam surface 19 whereby when the lever is moved outwards and upwards to a horizontal position, the spring 17 will be permitted to close the corresponding smoke valve 15. This cam is so formed that unless the lever 18 is moved to the vertical position of full opening, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the smoke Valve will automatically close. Hence it will be necessary to entirely close the corresponding steam valve 8 before the smoke valve can be moved to the position where it remains locked open, as will be understood. There is thus a double insurance against improper functioning of the valves; first, the function of the lever 18 of covering the valve wheel 13 so that it cannot be grasped to open' the valve 8 unless the valve 15 is fully closed, and second, the self-actuating feature of the valve 15 which prevents it from remaining in any position except' that of full closure if the valve 8 is open by veven a small amount. VVhen the pipes 2 and 4 enter the control cabinet 3 near the front thereof, the valves 8 and 15 are provided with.

stood as it is exactly 'the same as thev valve-V shown in Fig. 2, except that the valve stem is longer as is also the valve-stem casing. This .permits us to bring all the valve Wheels and levers in the same plane, notwithstanding the fact that the pipes 2 and et may enter the control cabinet 3 at different planes. The control cabinet 3 is formed with a hinged door 20 adapted'to Vbe normally latched, whichzdoo'r when closed will be closely adjacent to all of the levers 18 controlling the several Smoke valves. If thereforeany smoke valve is left closed, its lever The construction of the 18 will project beyond the front of the cabinet,` so that the door 20 cannot be shut and the operator will therefore have an indication that the apparatus is not in normal condition for detecting a fire. Each of the detector pipes 4 is shown as leading obliquely into an observation tube, the upper end of which forms the orifice through which the stream of gas or vapor passes,and a source of illumination 21 is employed to cause a beam. of light to pass axially through said observation tube, so as to illuminate any smoke particles in the stream. This particular method of providing for the ready detection of smoke particles, even when they exist in extremely minute amount, is made the subject of a separate application for patent filed by us June 28, 1921, Serial No. 480,967, and hence is not specifically claimed herein. The months or orifices 5 of the observation tube are observed through a glass front in the observation cabinet at an angle out of the paths of the light beams, so that when no smoke is present, the light beams Will be invisible. The circulation of air is maintained by means of an exhauster or suction fan 22 connected with a conduit 23, whose' month is located at the upper part of the detector cabinet, the latter being divided into two Sections, by means of a partition (not shown), located substantially in line With the lower edge of the glass window. The fan or exhauster 22 exhausts ldirectly into the lower section of the observation cabinet and thence no'rmally through slots or louvres 24 into the cabin vor room in which the detector cabinet is located. Hence in addition to the detection of smoke by visual observation, its presence will also be indicated outside of the detector cabinet by its smell. In case theair coming from the compartments of the ship is noxious or unpleasantly odorous, as in the case of chemical cargoes or hides,

the slots or louvres 24 may be closed by --a sliding panel 25 operated by a lever 26 from .a crank or lever 27 outside of ,the detector.

cabinet. At the same time a slide28 connected to th`e same lever Will be moved to one side to disclose an openingin the back wall of the cabinet leading to the outside atmosphere; It will be understood of course that any Vsuitable arrangement may be employed for simultaneously cutting -olf the flow through the slots or louvres and directing it to the outside atmosphere.

In Fig. 1, We indicate by the numerals 29, 30, and 31, devices for removing condensed steam or other liquid from the pipes at points where'such accumulation is likely to occur. 'The indcation is purely diagrammatic in each case because these devices are of ordinary construction., For mstance the element 29 may be a simple drip pipe w through which condensed liquid yescapes.

The element 30 may be a U tube filled With water for permitting the escape of condensed liquid, while not admitting air ro the suction pipe, thus forming an air trap The device 31 may perform the same function as the air trap' 30, but since this device is subject to the steam pressure When the fire is being extinguished, it is in Aaddition provided with a thermostatie trap or check valve, or combination thereof, which closes automatically When steam or other extinguishing agent under pressure is admitted through this pipe, thus preventing the steam or other pressure fluid from blowing out through the air trap.

The operation of our improved device is as follows': i

Normally the door 20 of the control cabinet is closed and latched or locked, allthe valves beingin a'normal position, that is to say, all the pressure valves 8 being closed, and all the smoke valves 15 being opened,

a/nd the levers 18 for all the smoke valves being therefore in their Vertical position. 'The fan or-exhauster 22 being Voperated, a

circulation of air will be maintained from the holds, compartments, rooms or other.

localities through the pipes 2 and 4 into the observa-tion tubes, the air currents passing through the orifices 5 and the combined volume of air from all the pipes being discharged either through the louvres or slots 24 or through the opening to the atmosphere as may be desired. 'Under normal conditions the light beams passing axially through the observation tubes will be invisible. VVhen a fire occurs adjacent to any one of the accumulators, even when the fire is in its initial stage and smokel exists in extremely minute quantity, the presence of such smoke will be .immediately revealed at the corresponding ,indicatorcabinet because the circulation will be cut off at the particular smoke pipe 4, and

smoke will no longer be seen. As soonasthe proper smoke valve has been closed, the operator can then open the pressure valve 8, permitting steam or other fireextinguishi'ng fluid under pressure to pass down the'pipe 2 into the compartment Where the fire started, -and effectively extinguishing the same. Of course these' Operations require .only a few seconds to, perform, and a fire can therefore be extinguished in its initial stages before material damage has been done.

' Steam is allowed to enter the compartment smok-e Valve to be opened by throwing down the corresponding lever `18 andil permitting the door 20 to be shut. The circulation of .air will then be immediately resumed through the smoke pipe 4, and the observer at the observation cabinet can inform himself by noting the absence of any smoke issuing from the orifice 5 that the fire has in fact been efi'cctivcly -extinguished Having now described our invention, what we claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In an apparatus for detccting and indicating fires, the combination of a deteetor.A

pipe and means for drawing a. continuous flow of gas or vapor there-through, means for closing the suc'tion connection to the 'detector pipe, an extinguisher pipe connected with the detector pipe, a second independent control means for admitting a fire eX- tinguishing medium to the extinguisher pipe, and interlocking means for preventing the opening of the second control means until the first control means is closed, and vice Versa, substantially vas set forth.

2. InV an apparatus for detecting and indicating fires, .the combination of a. pipe leading to a detecting apparatus, and means for drawing a continuous flow of gas or vapor there-through, two separate adjacent valves in said pipe, one normally open, and the other normally closed, and interloeking means between the valves whereby the second valve cannot be opened until the first valve is closed, and Vice versa, substantially as set forth.

3. In an apparatus for detecting and indicating fires, thecombination of a pipe leading to a detecting apparatus, and means for drawing a continuous flow of gas or vapor there-through, of two independent adjacent valves in said pipe, one normally opened and the other normally closed, and a pivoted lever for closing the first Valve, said lever normally interlocking with the means for opening the second Valve, whereby the second valve cannot be opened until the first Valve is closed, and vice versa, substantially as 4set forth.

4. In an apparatus for detecting and indicating fires, the combination of a pipe leading to a detecting apparatus, and means for drawing a continuous fiow of gas or vapor there-through, of two independent adjacent Valves in the pipe, one normally opened and the other normally closed, a hand wheel for opening the second valve, and a lever for closin the first Valve, said lever interlocking with the hand wheel whereby the hand wheel is prevented from being operated until such lever is moved to close the first valve, 'substantially as set forth.

5. In an apparatus for detecting and indicating fires, the combination of a valve Cabinet, a plurality of Valves therein, a door for the cabinet, a lever for Operating each valve, said levers being normally Vertical to permit said door to close, and being movable to a horizontal position to prevent said door from closing, substantially as set forth.

' 6. In an apparatus for detecting and indicating 'fires, the combination of an indicator Gabinet, a detector pipe leading thereto, an exhauster in the cabinet for creating a suction in said pipe, the normal discharge from the exhauster discharging in the room where the cabinet is located, and means for directing -the discharge from the exhauster to a distant point, substantially as set forth.

7. In an apparatus for detecting and indicating fires, the combination of an indicator cabinet, a deteetor pipe' leading thereto, an exhauster in the cabinet for 'creating a suction in said pipe, the normal discharge from the exhauster discharging in the room Where the Gabinet is located, and means for Cutting off such normal discharge and simultaneously directing the discharge to a distant point, substantially as set forth.

This specification signedand-witnessed this 24 day of June, 1921.

i WALTER KIDDE.l BARZILLAI G. WORTH. 

